Downton Abbey’s Highclere Castle Is Ready for Its Final Closeup

Maggie Smith. Elizabeth McGovern. Hugh Bonneville. Jim Carter. Some of the best actors in the world have starred in Downton Abbey, the beloved British historical series that has unfolded in six television seasons and three feature films. But when the final installment, Downtown Abbey: The Grand Finale, premieres on September 12, the true star of the series will be indisputably clear: Highclere Castle, the English manor that portrays the ancestral home of Downton’s fictional Crawley family.

In 2009, before Downton Abbey began its 15-year reign as the defining series on the post-Edwardian English aristocracy, it was just a television pilot in search of a filming location. “It was a year after a global crash,” recalls production designer Donal Woods, who oversaw the look of the series throughout. “At the time, I thought: a story about rich people and their servants? How could that be popular? But what did I know.”

One thing was obvious from the start: The country estate of Downton’s glamorous Crawley family had to be larger than life, with a cinematic presence that reflected all the pomp and circumstance of Julian Fellowes’ screenplay. The ultimate selection of Highclere Castle, a 19^th-century country house in Hampshire, transformed a sleepy manor into one of the world’s most visited English estates.

“We wanted a house that was majestic and projected the authority of the aristocracy in its era,” says Gareth Neame, Downton Abbey’s longtime co-producer and co-creator. “Rebuilt in the 1840s, Highclere symbolizes the power of the British Empire and of the landed elite. That grandeur and confidence made it perfect as Downton Abbey. It really is a leading character—it is the unifying presence of the show.”

In the beginning, the creative team did not have a filming location in mind. “We were focused on story and characters,” says Neame of himself and Julian Fellowes, the creator, writer and co-producer of the series. “But once it became real, Highclere was the very first house we considered.”

Neame knew the estate, the historic seat of the Earls of Carnarvon, because he had visited it on an earlier vacation. At that time, he joined a tour of its Egyptian Exhibition, featuring artifacts assembled by the 5^th Earl, an Egyptologist who had helped fund the discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb. “The museum was in the basement and I was one of about three people visiting that day,” he says. “Highclere wasn’t a property on many people’s radar.”

Set on 5,000 acres, the property was so magnificent—with its long driveway winding through the trees until a golden-hued stone castle appears on a hill—that it seemed like Downton come to life. The manor dates from 1679 and was remodeled in the 1840s by architect Sir Charles Barry, who also designed London’s Houses of Parliament, in a Jacobethan and Italianate style. The grounds were designed by the legendary landscape architect Capability Brown in the 18^th century.

“Some early Georgian houses were very uniform, but Highclere was playful,” Woods says. “Every room instantly tells you where you are. And there’s that approach, with the house revealing itself like an opera star stepping on stage. It has presence, inside and out.”

Still, the crew felt obligated to do their due diligence and ultimately visited almost 25 properties in search of this crucial location. “In the fall of 2009 we regrouped and when asked our favorite we all said Highclere,” Woods says. “Julian favored it too, but he didn’t push us. It was a collective choice—and the rest is history.”

A scene in the Grand Finale’s trailer shows Lord Grantham, patriarch of the Crawley family, touching his hand to the castle’s façade, sparking debate about the future of the abbey. Will it be sold? Or passed to a new generation? “It’s a very emotional scene,” is all Neame will say. “And it wasn’t scripted that way. Hugh Bonneville suggested it in rehearsal and it was incredibly moving.”

Where the television series often began with sweeping aerial shots of the house, the latest film opens instead in 1930s London, where the Crawleys attend a play by the up-and-coming playwright Noël Coward, followed by the social event of the summer—Lady Petersfield’s Ball. This is where Lady Mary Talbot (Michelle Dockery), newly divorced, finds herself transformed from society darling to outcast due to her marital status. The Crawleys flee London for the comfort of their beloved home. “The return home is marked with sweeping aerial shots and that beloved theme music,” Neame says. “It’s a moment of recognition and comfort.”

As always, Highclere’s real rooms provide a rich background for the action, from the library with its gilded book spines to the dining room, where the Crawleys entertain Coward (Arty Froushan) at a table set with silver candelabras and fine china. “The actors hate the dining scenes because filming one can take an entire day with 25 characters, dozens of shots, and something like a big piece of salmon sitting in the center of the table all day long,” Neame adds. “As you can imagine it can get claustrophobic and a bit smelly. But these scenes are popular with audiences. People love all the manners and dressing up.”

Of course, the downstairs servants’ quarters are just as crucial to the storytelling. Since they no longer existed at Highclere, Woods recreated the downstairs sets on a soundstage based on extensive research at historic estates that retained their working spaces. The production designer used the opportunity to create a vivid contrast between the two worlds. “Below stairs, life was monochromatic: grey, black and cream, almost like a film noir,” he says. “Upstairs, in contract, is a Technicolor feast.”

Over years of filming, the current owners of Highclere—George Herbert, the 8^th Earl of Carnarvon, and his wife, Lady Fiona Carnarvon—were a constant presence. The castle is a real home and working estate, and they were usually in residence. Woods says that while about 80 percent of the set decor is authentic to the house, some pieces—including Napoleon’s desk—were too precious and had to be removed for safekeeping. “Lady Carnarvon has wonderful taste,” he notes.

As the epic tale winds to its poignant close, fans of another Fellowes’ series, The Gilded Age, have speculated about a crossover. After all, both stories feature American characters who cross the Atlantic to marry into the British aristocracy. Don’t hold your breath: “There’s no plan,” says Neame, who once again collaborated with Fellowes on the newer series.

Still, he did not entirely rule it out. “The Gilded Age is set 50 years earlier than Downton Abbey so even if we did it, you wouldn’t recognize anyone,” he says. “But making both shows is a joy. The Gilded Age is about America’s rise and optimism, while Downton has always been about the end of an era. They sit alongside each other nicely.”

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